STORY: The US Department of Defense has been tracking a suspected Chinese spy balloon in its airspace for a few days. A senior US defense official, who declined to be named, said Thursday of the spy-movie-like action that the balloon’s “clear intent was to gather information.” Washington has also observed the balloon with manned US military aircraft since it appeared in American airspace. High-ranking military officials considered launching the balloon over the sparsely populated state of Montana. However, because of the possible danger of debris, they refrained from doing so.